Vinescapes team member Jonathan Rodwell has passed the international ampelography course of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) at the Institut Agro Montpellier – the only person from the UK!

Jonathan Rodwell commented: “Ampelography is not only a fascinating viticulture specialisation but identifying and understanding vine varieties is key for helping us prepare for future challenges in the wine sector.”

Press release translated from the original version:

Jonathan Rodwell receiving certificate on passing the international ampelography course of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) at the Institut Agro Montpellier

Montpellier has just hosted the second international ampelography course of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) which took place from June 27 to July 1, 2022.

The cradle of modern ampelography since the end of the 19th century, the Montpellier region, has played a fundamental role in the promotion, conservation, study and research of vine varieties.

The training enabled 29 students from 15 different nationalities to deepen their knowledge in the field of identification and understanding of vine varieties, thus helping to better prepare them for future challenges in the wine sector. These are professionals working in in research and training in the wine sector. They were selected to follow this training set up by the OIV in partnership with the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vine and Wine (IHEV), the Agro Montpellier Institute, the French Institute of Vine and Wine (IFV) and the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE).

Accompanied by internationally renowned professors, the students had the privilege of visiting and working on three exceptional sites: the experimental educational vineyard Pierre Galet, the only artificial vineyard in the world dedicated to training and research, the INRAE ​​experimental unit of the Domaine du Vassal, the world’s largest ampelographic collection with 8,500 accessions from 50 different countries, and the Domaine de l’Espiguette, National Plant Material Pole and Vine Selection Center where 4,600 clones representing 600 varieties are grown .

On the site of the La Gaillarde campus, formerly Montpellier SupAgro, which since 2022 has become the Institut Agro Montpellier, the course was inaugurated by Pau Roca, Director of the International Organization of Vine and Wine, Sylvain Labbé, President from the INRAE ​​Occitanie-Montpellier centre, Laurent Audeguin from the French Institute of Vine and Wine (IFV) and Laurent Torregrosa, Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vine and Wine (IHEV).

Ampelography is a discipline that describe the vines, both cultivated varieties and wild species, according to various characteristics such as morphology, agronomic aptitudes, technological potential, genetics, distribution and uses. It is a field of study that is an integral part of viticulture at education, research and development level.

In order to meet its technical and scientific objectives of international scope, the Director General of the OIV has already confirmed the organization of the 3rd edition of the ampelography course in November 2023 in Chile.

Original version: https://www.journalvignette.fr/montpellier-deuxieme-cours-international-dampelographie-organisation-internationale-vigne-vin/

More information can be found here:

https://plantgrape.plantnet-project.org/fr/
https://bioweb.supagro.inra.fr/collections_vigne/Home.php

https://www.oiv.int/en/oiv-life/montpellier-international-capital-of-ampelography